Hull City have reportedly moved into pole position in the race to sign Norwegian midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl from Tromso.
Hjerto-Dahl has been repeatedly linked with a transfer away from his boyhood club throughout the transfer window, with both Rangers and Cardiff City said to have been interested.
The Scottish Premiership side were the first to make an official offer, but their bid - said to be in the region of £5.3million - was rejected out of hand last month.
Cardiff followed that up with an offer of around £8million which is understood to be closer to the Norwegian side's valuation.
However, Hull City are poised to hijack the move, with the Tigers able to offer the 21-year-old the prospect of playing Premier League football.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, Hull are closing in on a move for Hjerto-Dahl, who has represented Norway at multiple youth levels.
Quizzed on a move away from Tromso in recent days he admitted that an exit has been on his mind.
"I’m aware of it [transfer interest]," Hjerto-Dahl told iTromso.
"There have been two or three occasions where I’ve had to make a decision about things.
"It’s in the back of my mind. It’s not always easy, but it’s fine during training and matches. It’s more of an issue when I’m at home in the evenings."
Should Hull be able to complete a move for Hjerto-Dahl it would represent a positive breakthrough after the club's transfer business has seemingly plateaued in recent weeks.
Ahead of their first return to the Premier League in the decade, Hull had signed just Matt Targett, Jack Butland, Hidemasa Morita and Oscar Zambrano with the pre-season preparations well underway.
However, it appears that the club will soon welcome several new arrivals - with Konstantinos Tzolakis and Nobel Mendy among multiple players said to be imminently joining Sergej Jakirovic's side.
